How would you handle this roadside emergency - as a father

[Baz]

While out with entire family, truck breaks down.

Dark rural roadway, very close to their home.

What would you do if you were the father?

Would you first get all occupants out of the truck, then set up flares and/or other traffic emergency signal devices to warn other drivers, then effect method(s) to re-locate truck from roadway - not including letting your two sons push it from behind?

How culpable was the father in not effecting the safest procedure possible in this roadside emergency?

David Barajas, Texas man, charged in fatal shooting of suspected drunk driver who killed his sons, authorities say - Crimesider - CBS News

(CBS/AP) HOUSTON - Authorities said Monday that a Texas father was charged with murder in the fatal revenge shooting of a suspected drunk driver who killed two of his children in a car crash, CBS Houston reports.

David Barajas, 31, and his sons, 12-year-old David Jr. and 11-year-old Caleb, were about 50 yards away from their Houston-area home on Dec. 7, 2012 when a car crashed into them. David Jr. died at the scene, while Caleb died later at a hospital.

Barajas suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to CBS Houston. His wife, Cindy, was in the truck when it was hit, along with the couple's 8-year-old daughter and 3-month-old son.

Barajas was driving with his family when their truck broke down near Alvin, about 30 miles southeast of Houston. He and his two sons attempted to push the truck when 20-year-old Jose Banda rear-ended their vehicle, CBS Houston reports.

The Brazoria County Sheriff's Department said Banda was intoxicated at the time of the crash. His blood alcohol concentration was reportedly at 0.175, above the legal limit, according to the station.

Neighbors said they heard gunshots minutes after the crash and Banda was later found shot in the head. He was flown to a medical center where he died of his injuries, CBS Houston reports. His death was ruled a homicide.

Brazoria County sheriff's investigator Dominick Sanders said Monday that witnesses told authorities they saw Barajas walk to his home right after the crash and then return a few minutes later and approach Banda's vehicle. Evidence showed one shot was fired, Sanders said.

"Every time we would pursue a lead, it always came back to Mr. Barajas," Sanders said. "We have numerous statements placing him there at the car in close proximity to the victim at the time the gunshot was fired."

Barajas was indicted for murder Friday and turned himself in Sunday. He was held Monday in the Brazoria County Jail on a $450,000 bond.

A search of Barajas' home found ammunition that is consistent with the bullet that killed Banda, but authorities have not located the weapon used in the shooting, Sanders said. He added that the case is "going to be much more difficult if we don't have a weapon."

Gunshot residue tests were done on both Barajas and Banda, and authorities are still waiting for those results, Sanders said.

Investigators also are awaiting DNA test results of some "biological material" that was found at the scene. Sanders declined to elaborate on the material that is being tested.

[gassy]

It would be hard not to do the same thing.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by gassy

It would be hard not to do the same thing.

What? Let your two sons push the truck from behind in the dark with no lights while other vehicles are approaching from behind?

While your wife and two other children are still inside the truck?

You would do that?

[Aragorn]

I'm not a father, but this just makes me ill. Too many drunks on the road. Three people died in this accident because of one drunk. Have a few less beers and take a taxi home.

[manbridge 74]

If this man were truly distraught he'd have committed suicide for the truly bad decision of doing this on a crowded road.

Killing the other guy isn't going to bring his kids back.

And perhaps he was drunk himself.

[Rick Lee]

Roadside stuff is flat out deadly, no matter where you are or how careful you are. I will walk 50' away from the road and call roadside assistance (while facing traffic). And I have a reflective yellow vest and light sticks in my vehicles. Yes, I know how to change a tire and do the common stuff. But it ain't worth it. More than once a year someone dies here trying to change a tire on a major highway with huge shoulders and pull-off areas in broad daylight. It ain't worth it.

[Baz]

Manbridge and Rick:

Thanks for your thoughts. Those were my thoughts as well. Not excusing the drunk driver but how does a father leave his family so exposed like that?

[Rick Lee]

Last time I got stopped by a cop, I told him I didn't think it was a safe place to stop and asked that we take it up the road a mile. He said the flashing lights on his bike would protect us. Uh huh.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Last time I got stopped by a cop, I told him I didn't think it was a safe place to stop and asked that we take it up the road a mile. He said the flashing lights on his bike would protect us. Uh huh.

Yup - I know.

A few nights ago I was on my way home from re-locating-releasing a trapped Raccoon and was stopped and given a warning for a cracked tail light. I turned the corner onto a side street when I pulled over off the main road. The cop can park wherever he wants - I'M PARKING WAY OFF TO THE SIDE!

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Last time I got stopped by a cop, I told him I didn't think it was a safe place to stop and asked that we take it up the road a mile. He said the flashing lights on his bike would protect us. Uh huh.

Usually the flashing lights cause people to look in that direction and they are more likely to "steer" where they are watching. I have noticed the police around here will angle their cars when they pull someone over and approach from the passenger side if the highway is busy. I guess they feel drunks will glance off their car and not hit them or the car they have pulled over.

[Rick Lee]

That last time I was pulled over, there was no shoulder at all and the side of the road was sand wash and dead grass. Had it not been a mile from my house and my 993 engine cold (having just left the house), my heat exchangers would have started a fire on that grass. The two times I was told to get out and do the field sobriety tests, it was an empty road late at night, but I still hated standing right between the cop car and my own. Very dangerous stuff and I'm sure some real drunks drove right by us while we were out there.

[gassy]

Originally Posted by Baz

What? Let your two sons push the truck from behind in the dark with no lights while other vehicles are approaching from behind?

While your wife and two other children are still inside the truck?

You would do that?

Sorry I was talking about shooting the guy. Unfortunate event all around. Just saying I can see why the father shot the guy. Not saying it was right.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

That last time I was pulled over, there was no shoulder at all and the side of the road was sand wash and dead grass. Had it not been a mile from my house and my 993 engine cold (having just left the house), my heat exchangers would have started a fire on that grass. The two times I was told to get out and do the field sobriety tests, it was an empty road late at night, but I still hated standing right between the cop car and my own. Very dangerous stuff and I'm sure some real drunks drove right by us while we were out there.

Not surprising.

We have a relatively new law in Florida called the "Move Over" law.

When a safety officer is stopped on the side of the road, drivers are required to move over to the passing lane and/or slow down to 'safe' speed.

The only reason this law exists is because these safety officials have never understood the concept of pulling over where you are removed from being struck by other existing traffic.

Over the years I guess too many cases where safety officials were killed while pulled over to the side of the roads.

Hell they were asking for it, in my opinion - no disrespect intended.

Makes me scratch my head.....

[Baz]

Originally Posted by gassy

Sorry I was talking about shooting the guy. Unfortunate event all around. Just saying I can see why the father shot the guy. Not saying it was right.

It could be the father was racked with guilt over making a poor decision regarding safety of his family. Maybe he felt he had to release some anger. Hard to say.

I agree - sad situation for all.

[chocolatelab]

Before you start pilling on the Dad do we know what the road is like.
50 yards from home.
If its a quite street not a lot of traffic, you drive it everyday and know your neighbors.
I would imagine most people including myself would just figure out how to get the truck home.
I doubt most folks including myself would go be that cautious.
I mean really, are you going to evacuate the car and call triple A and set up road flares that close to home.

Nope.

The Dad does not need to be ridiculed for that.

The mother *****er drunk driver deserved that instant justice and the Dad should get a parade.

[VINMAN]

What the hell was he thinking??

First and foremost., get everyone out of the vehicle and away from the road.

These kind off accidents are way more common then people realize.

[BeyGon]

Don't know what I would do, most people don't really know what they would do until after the fact, but I don't think the father purposely put his kids in danger, it obviously seemed like the best course of action at the time, having the kids push the truck off the road, the drunk was what he was, drunk, I might have shot him, I know I would have wanted to. We don't know if the drunk was a repeat offender, but he won't be.

[vash]

this story is awful. hard to critique a man when he just lost so much..

i see this all the time. i drive a State vehicle, so everyone thinks i am "highway assistance". screw that..stopping on a california highway is insane. i see the worst in common sense. bay bridge break downs where the owner is standing in front of their POS car waving cars by. WTF? i've seen people try to change flat tires on the bridge..and yes, i've seen people pushing their cars.

no car has been created that is worth risking a human life for.

get the family off the road..if this isnt possible, stay seated and belted.

50 yards from the house? damn it, i would have sent the kids home. left the flashers on..or dumped out some flares. i commute with my work truck. i have two cases of flares. i will light the place up, if need be.

shoot the DUI..no, i'd let the law take care of it.

[Rick Lee]

It's also the law in AZ that you move over a lane for stopped emergency vehicles. But then you first have to be looking up from your email and text messages to see them.

In Oct. I was riding my bike down the 405 near LA when I got sprayed with hot embers from some roadside flares. The accident scene was gone, but they had left the flares burning and some cars had run over them, showering me with the embers. I'm used to dodging cigarette butts, but not magnesium embers.

[Tobra]

What Chris said. The law does two things about drunk drivers, jack and scheisse. There was a drunk that killed a guy and his 4 dogs, crippled the girlfriend walking with them. He had half dozen DUIs, was on a suspended license at the time. Hit a stop sign, then hit the guy so hard his leg was torn off. He would have died right there if it did not happen right in front of an EMT's house.

Bet it was not the first time that drunk had an incident.

Last time I got pulled over, I drove about a mile and pulled into a parking lot with the Texas DPS behind me with his party lights going. He was hot, did the full on felony stop and called several other cars. Was screaming at me that you pull over immediately when they hit you with the lights when I got out, on his loudspeaker before that. He tried to take me to the front of my car, but I walked to the hood of his car. No way I am getting my ass kicked in front of the car without a dash cam. Went to court over it. Got a ticket, he got a reprimand.